i do pay attention to new releases in country, and i would say that the best new album i've heard this year, or perhaps the only really certifiably excellent country album, is chris stapleton's traveller. (we're in an awful patch on country radio right now overall. i am not against all commercial country, and some of my fave artists in the history of the genre - miranda lambert, kacey musgraves, the band perry, ashley monroe - are commercially potent contemporary artists. they're between albums.)
chris stapleton is completely the real deal, he's from kentucky; a veteran of the killer bluegrass band the steeldrivers; he's had many great hits and album cuts as a songwriter. he does exactly what i think needs doing: he is at once unmistakably traditional and unmistakably contemporary. if i had to characterize the sound, it's somewhere between jamey johnson and the zac brown band, or maybe i'm just bewildered by the beards (no i'm not). really a killer set of songs, and the man has great range as a singer, from waylony to pure melismatic soul, as on the current (thank god) hit, tennessee whiskey. man he blows like a hurricane on that 'parachute' thing. there is no better singer in country music. falling feels like flying til you hit the ground.
(someone in the comments for that one mentions travis tritt. that's right.)
i worry about any artist i love whose main theme is substance abuse, but there it is.
